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Appendix C. Spatial variation in breeding habitat quality in the study area.

Temporal changes in spatial variation of local breeding habitat quality at the scale of natal dispersal distance in the study population. Habitat quality was measured using the major breeding characteristics of great tits in the Bremgartenwald 1993–2000: (a) nest box occupation rate; (b) laying date; (c) probability of breeding failure; (d) number of fledglings in successful nests; (e) fledgling body mass; and (f) fledgling body condition.

TABLE C1. the value of the statistical test (Z) and associated probability (P) describe the effect of zone and interaction zone × year (random factors) on breeding characteristics, in a mixed logistic regression model (proc mixed, SAS - Littell et al. 1996). N: sample size. Unit of analysis: zone for occupation rate; nest for laying date, probability of failure and fledgling number (successful nests only); fledgling for body mass and condition. In the latter case, the nest was also included as a random variable in the analysis to account for the non-independence of siblings. The interaction zone × year could not be tested for occupation rate as only one value is obtained per zone per year. Significant results are shown in bold. Results do not qualitatively change when excluding data from year 2000, showing that the spatio-temporal variability in local breeding habitat quality was not due to the consequences of the 1999 Lothar storm.

FIG. C1. Each color represents one zone. The significant effect of the interaction zone × year is visualised by the many line crossings, which indicate that the relative quality of a zone compared to others changed through time.